GenOdyssee: Better blockbusters

Although protein therapeutics have attained blockbuster status, GenOdyssee S.A. sees an opportunity to make many such therapies more efficacious or to have fewer side effects. The company specializes in discovery of functional SNPs to improve naturally occurring protein therapies. Its lead compound is an improved interferon alpha that the company believes can offer greater efficacy with fewer side effects than marketed interferons.

Therapeutic proteins "have pleiotropic activity when they are delivered systemically," CEO Jean-Louis Escary told BioCentury. This means they have more than one effect in the body. Some effects are desirable; others cause side effects. ...